Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This issue will have to be resolved because we are going to be spending hundreds of millions of euro on flood relief schemes over the next number of years which will include demountable defences. Demountable defences have proven to be successful in the towns across Ireland where they have been employed, yet they are not recognised by the insurance industry as being of the same standard as permanent defences. While there is merit in implementing flood defence schemes and protecting towns from flooding, the value of that is diminished if households and businesses in those towns are unable to access flood insurance. What we need from the Minister is a commitment that if the industry continues to dig its heels in on the issue, the Government is prepared to act. The Minister will find support across the House if he is prepared to take action to deal with this issue. As far as I can see, there is a stand off. I have seen what the insurance industry is saying about demountables, but the net effect is that homes and businesses will remain without flood cover even where we have spent huge sums of money to implement schemes which actually work.

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